The race to keep North Carolina’s open U.S. Senate seat red is tight, though voters are still most concerned with an economy agitated by Democrats’ reckless spending, a recent Civitas poll shows.

The August poll shows both Trump-endorsed Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC) and former chief justice on the North Carolina Supreme Court Cheri Beasley in an exact tie, 42.3 percent to 42.3 percent, with a 3.9 percent margin of error. Nearly 13 percent of voters are still undecided and 2.7 percent support Libertarian and Green Party candidates.

The most recent survey is in line with other polling from the past few months, save for June, when a survey showed Budd almost five points ahead of Beasley, 45 percent to 40.3 percent. A July Trafalgar Group poll showed him 2.5 points ahead of Beasley, as did a May Civitas Poll, 43.6 percent to 41.8 percent.

Like every other state in the nation, voters may be divided about social issues such as abortion, but “the vast majority of North Carolinians can agree [on] a shared concern about gas prices,” according to the John Locke Foundation, which released the poll.

An “overwhelming majority” of those polled (87.7 percent) say they are concerned about energy and gas prices in the state. Gas prices in the state are currently averaging around $3.89 and peaked to around $4.67 for regular unleaded and $5.76 in June, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA).

Over 60 percent of North Carolinians would support a federal law to “dramatically increase oil and gas drilling in the United States,” and 45.5 percent say state lawmakers should prioritize affordability and reliability in energy over carbon emissions. Only 37.4 percent say the state should put environmental policies over energy prices.

Both Budd and Beasley are running to fill retiring Sen. Richard Burr’s (R-NC) seat — and as Breitbart News previously reported, the North Carolina seat is part of the first tier of seats Republicans absolutely need to hold to win the majority.

“North Carolina is tight, but Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC) is a strong general election candidate and Republicans have won this state in almost every single recent statewide national election dating back a decade,” Breitbart News’ Washington D.C. Bureau Chief Matthew Boyle wrote.

Budd and Beasley are a smaller-scale representation of the battle between law and order, small government Americans, and Democrats who seek to consolidate and expand federal power. The congressman has spent much of his general election campaign honing in on the economy, inflation, crime, and Biden’s open border — all of which he says Beasley will be a “rubber stamp” for if she is elected.

 

“She’s essentially ignoring the issue [of the economy]. She is thinking that the way you solve this is more government spending, more Biden tax increases. She supports Biden’s war on American energy… and she’s completely in line with Green New Deal thinking,” Budd told Breitbart News exclusively in July.

Beasley’s platform, on the other hand, is to “end the filibuster,” “codify Roe,” as well as “climate change” and “voting rights.” Beasley also fundraised with “defund the police” supporter Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO), and is linking arms with Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, a devout socialist, Rep. Val Demings (D-FL), Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH), and Pennsylvania Democrat gubernatorial candidate John Fetterman. The five far-left candidates launched the “Flippable Five Fund” this week in an effort to “expand [their] slim Democratic Senate majority this November.”

The poll was conducted on August 13-15 with 615 likely general election voters, and has a margin of error of ±3.90 percent.